Ah_so's past comments

Yes it does, as does tea and any other hot drink. The clue is in the word 'hot'. If they are not served piping hot they cool down so quickly that you either have to gulp them down or you are soon left with a lukewarm drink, which is most unsatisfactory.

The recommended serving temperature for coffee is around 75C to 80C, somewhat lower than tea. The burnt lap case was probably at about 90C to 95C, which is way too hot and also the difference between uncomfortably hot to having 3rd degree burns. Also, if they are served in the right cups with a lid they do not cool down so quickly.

whether or not Mr Saito’s organization would be used to secretly send money to fund the radical efforts of groups like Islamic State.

But luckily the Sherlock Holmes of credit unions noticed the fatal flaw in the potential terrorist's plan - putting "Islam" in the title. Master criminals always make one tiny slip that gives the game away!

None as good as packet of nuts with the message: "Warning: may contain nuts."

It's frustrating to see company's shelling out big bucks on advertising slogans (beer companies among the worst) that are written in poor English. Just ask someone first for crying out loud!

sighclops: but it does not need to be native level English, for two reasons:

Firstly, it does not matter as they are writing for a domestic audience, not English speaking consumers. Secondly, a literal translation from Japanese may make it far easier for a Japanese with limited English to understand.

Automatic cars will take some time to gain acceptance. When they do come in, it is likely to be more about driver assistance, but with the requirement that a human is able to take control at any moment.

In time the legal issues will be resolved and the self-driving car will become the norm. It may be rather sooner than we expect.

Psyops - I am amazed that you would rather die than accept organs from another but also shocked that you would see others die rather than share bits of organic matter that you no longer need. I do find this amazing that people hold this as a value for reasons that I would find hard to articulate (although clearly it has something to do with a belief in the supranatural).

The link between childhood cancer, autism and vaccines whilst not proven, is there

Of the many wrong-headed, idiotic comments to come out of LaWren and Burning Bush, this is as good example as any. The comments of vaccine deniers are characterised by:

1) Lack of scientific rigour: a dogmatic desire to believe in something, even where not proven scientifically, or utterly debunked ( e.g. MMR and autism). Yet despite a quasi-religious desire to believe things that are not scientifically supported, there is always willingness to paste links to pseudo-scientific research links. Unsurprisingly, those in this camp are almost never scientists.

2) Conspiracy theorists: "Big pharma" is always referred to, conjuring up the image of a huge industry that is happy to pump us with poisons for profit. Despite the rigorous testing that all new drugs go through, there is a rejection of 100% of the drugs that they manufacture.

3) Selfishness: these people rely on herd immunity to ensure that their children avoid the potentially lethal and disabling childhood diseases.Polio has almost been eradicated, but only because of global efforts to vaccinate children. There are still countries where not all children get vaccinated, and polio spreads, leaving dead and disabled children behind. There is also the risk that if your children catch the disease, they will pass it on. It is selfish to your child, whom you put at risk and others.

4) Belief in magic: the unwillingness to believe in science unsurprisingly leads to a willingness to believe in magic or similar. This might be homoeopathy, prayer or some other fad. As Steve Jobs found to his cost, relying on unproven treatments is not wise (how ironic that an intelligent man should fall for unscientific mumbo jumbo).

5) Pointless individualism: a refusal to be injected with a substance by the government as though being given immunity to a life threatening disease were some grave assault on human dignity that would justify buying a really big gun, baked beans and living in a shack in the mountains. I am so happy that my offspring have had the chance to get vaccinated against numerous illnesses, but do not feel that their rights have been threatened by being given immunity.

I agree that July 4, 1776, is probably the best date to pick if you're choosing a single National Foundation Day for the USA

Contempories saw the War of Independence as a civil war - American society was split on the issue and fought for both sides. Popular history has repainted this as a unified uprising of the masses against the British overlords.

National foundation days are a big deal in countries where an event marked a a significant or dramatic day in that country's emergence. Be it Independence Day in the US or Liberation Day in France.

In countries where the reference event is set in mythoology or an unconnected historical event, such as with Japan's and England's national days, the events pass off with barely a murmour. The exception to this is where the celebration of your national day is a celebration of your country's identity as being separate from another e.g. Ireland's St. Patrick's Day is as much about not being part of Britain as it is about being Irish.

This stealing or pulling down of women's underwear is called Sharking, and is videoed as it is happening. The videos are then posted on porn sites. It is also done in Europe, but women there fight back, Japanese women just seem to give in without a fight.

The women do not fight back because they are actresses. It is possible that some assaults are real, but committing assaults in public and in daylight is not in the perpetrators' interest - there would be witnesses and they would be quickly caught.

I don't believe in me or my child receiving someone else's body parts and I don't believe in giving ours either. I prefer to believe many of us will do the trip to the other side together.

Well at least I know that if I have body parts to give away, they will not go to you. Pity that you would prefer to allow others to die rather than share your useless organs from your deceased body. A bit like burning food in front of the starving.